


how gently we'll talk, how softly we'll tread

by gutsandglitter



Category: The Worst Witch (TV 2017)
Genre: F/F, Idiots in Love, basically FWP (fluff without plot)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-31
Updated: 2017-12-31
Packaged: 2019-02-24 12:35:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13213878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gutsandglitter/pseuds/gutsandglitter
Summary: Ada and Hecate try to navigate the No Man's Land between "old friends" and "new lovers".





	how gently we'll talk, how softly we'll tread

Hecate was waiting in the courtyard when Ada arrived. It had snowed overnight, and there was something wonderfully picturesque about seeing her black-clad figure against the pristine icy landscape. 

Ada couldn’t stop herself from breaking into a wide grin as she touched down. “Well met, Hecate,” she said, dismounting her broom.

Hecate’s soft, affectionate smile could have melted even the hardest of hearts. “Well met, Ada.” She cleared her throat, suddenly looking self-conscious. “I ah, I was just walking past a window when I happened to see you approaching and I-”

“It’s quite alright, Hecate,” Ada said, chuckling. “I missed you too.”

Hecate’s cheeks pinked. She looked down at her hands and began fiddling with her sleeve cuffs, unsure of what to do or say next. 

Ada stepped forward tentatively. She still wasn’t used to the idea of not having to hide her feelings for Hecate, for having permission to touch her and show her how much she wanted her. This was something Ada had concealed for all three years of their friendship, up until the month prior when Hecate had given her a kiss that shocked them both. She’d immediately begun stuttering out an apology, looking for all the world like a distressed woodland creature, and Ada had been given no choice but to silence her apology with a searing kiss.

Since then, they had been trying to navigate the No Man’s Land between _old friends_ and _new lovers_ \-- that rocky territory which seemed so alien and yet so disorientingly familiar. It hadn’t helped that Ada had gone to visit her parents for a week and only been able to manage a single mirror call during that time; now she was positively aching to touch Hecate, but wasn’t quite sure what was appropriate.

She reached out and trailed her fingers down Hecate’s forearm before taking her hand, which seemed safe enough. It still surprised her how soft the other woman’s hands were, even after years of putting out First Years’ cauldron fires and tending to the school’s ingredients garden (one of the few manual tasks she insisted on performing without magic). They were always slightly cool to the touch, even during the summer months, and Ada knew for a fact that she would never tire of feeling them against her skin.

Hecate shivered slightly at the contact and stepped forward so that they were toe to toe. She turned her palm up and laced their fingers together, giving a gentle squeeze, which was all the encouragement Ada needed to reach up and pull her down into a (mostly) chaste kiss. 

After Ada pulled back Hecate opened her eyes slowly, a look of pure contentment on her face. 

Ada chuckled, certain she was wearing a similar expression. “Shall we go inside?”

Hecate nodded, still looking blissed-out to an almost comical degree.

After a few more stolen kisses they made their way back up to Ada’s study, where there was already a fire crackling in the hearth. Ada glanced at Hecate, who smirked and gave a blithe shrug before curling up in her preferred armchair. 

Ada shook her head fondly and conjured two cups of tea, handing one (black, no sugar) to Hecate. She took her own cup (splash of milk, two lumps of sugar) and settled into the opposite chair, letting out a contented sigh. Though the weather had been mild during her flight, she relished the warmth of the study and the coziness of the moment. Until Hecate spoke again.

“How is your mother doing?”

Ada winced internally. She had been dreading that exact question from the moment her broom touched down in the courtyard.

“She’s well,” she said slowly, taking a sip of tea. “Still getting used to the idea of living at home with my father full-time. Thirty years of only seeing your spouse during the summer and winter holidays creates an interesting relationship dynamic, so I suppose some growing pains are to be expected.”

Hecate smiled. “Yes, I would imagine so.”

“They’ll be alright though, I’m sure.” Ada set her cup on the side table and took a deep breath. “I should probably mention that you came up in conversation yesterday.”

Hecate’s smile wavered. “Oh?”

“Yes. Mother and Father would like to meet you.”

“Meet me? I don’t…”Hecate furrowed her brow. ”I worked for your mother for two years. And I met your father at last year’s Yule party, we had that fascinating conversation about printing inconsistencies between different editions of _Zen and the Art of Broomstick Maintenance_.”

Ada sighed, realizing that this conversation was going to be just as difficult as she had imagined. She began to fidget, toying with the handle of her teacup. “Yes well I might have at one point mentioned that the…nature of our relationship had changed. They’ve gotten to know you as an employee, but now they’d like to get to know you as my partner.” 

She bit her lip, realizing too late that this was the first time she’d referred to Hecate as her partner. Judging by Hecate’s reaction, it might have been the last.

The other witch had frozen with her teacup lifted halfway to her lips. Her jaw hung slack, and what little color she usually had in her face had completely vanished.

“They’ve invited us to dinner next Friday.” Ada barrelled on, hoping it was just a case of momentary surprise. “Nothing special, just a meal with them at home. Agatha will not be joining us, in case you were worried about that.” She forced herself to chuckle.

Hecate closed her mouth and set her teacup in its saucer. Her gaze dropped to the floor, and she began nervously rubbing her fingertips against her thumb.

Ada swallowed. “Please say something.”

“I can’t.”

“Can’t what?” Ada asked.

“I can’t meet your parents. Not like that.”

Ada’s heart sank. Of course, it was too fast. What they had was delicate and new, and she had just ruined it.

When she and Agatha were small children, they used to run around the gardens in the evening trying to catch fireflies with their bare hands. On the rare occasion where they did catch them, they always ended up accidentally crushing the insects with their eager, clumsy little hands. _Patience, my dears_ , their mother had chided. _You have to let them come to you, and you have to let them breathe once they do_.

Ada looked down at her hands now, half expecting to see them stained with small streaks of fluorescent pigment. 

“May I ask why?”

Hecate let out an exasperated sigh. “Ada, I’m hardly the kind of person a parent would want as their child’s _partner_ , especially not for their golden child.” She stood up and began to pace across the worn rug. “And I-I have so much respect and admiration for your mother, I just...I just don’t think I could bear sitting there all evening and seeing her disapprove of me.” 

Relief flooded through Ada’s veins, easing the tension in her shoulders and causing her to let out a soft, unintentional chuckle. “Is that it?”

Thinking she was being mocked, Hecate’s eyes began to well with tears. She folded her arms across her chest and looked away.

Ada stood up and moved to her. After a moment’s deliberation, she rested a hand on the small of Hecate’s back. She didn’t shy away from the contact, which Ada took to be a good sign.

“Hecate, do you know what my mother said when I told her we were seeing each other?”

Hecate glanced up at her, clearly uneasy. “What?”

“Finally.”

Hecate blinked. “Finally?” 

Ada nodded. “She watched me pine for you for the better part of three years. I don’t think I was exactly subtle, or at least she was able to see through any subtlety I did possess. And she knows how happy you made me just by being my friend and colleague, so I’m sure she has some idea of how much joy the past few weeks have brought me. Brought you too, hopefully.”

The frown lines on Hecate’s forehead began to soften, and the faintest ghost of a smile began to creep across her face.

Ada smiled, stroking her thumb along Hecate’s back. “I’ll admit she had some reservations when I first hired you, but all of those went out the window the first time she sat in on one of your classes. If it weren’t for my father, and the fact she knew I was so helplessly in love with you, I think she might have made a pass at you herself.”

Hecate’s eyebrows shot up towards her hairline. 

Ada winked. “What can I say? You’re quite the catch.”

Hecate shook her head. “No, it’s not that.” A soft flush began to spread across her cheeks. “You just said you love me.”

Oh.

Right.

They hadn’t actually said those words out loud yet. 

They’d only thought them a hundred times, and whispered them in the dark while the other slept beside them. But never properly, not like this.

Ada chewed her lip, momentarily considering summoning the vial of forgetting powder she kept in the bottom drawer of her desk. But no, that was a juvenile thought. Hecate deserved better than that.

 _In for a penny, in for a pound._

“Well, I do. Love you, that is.” She cleared her throat and dropped her hand away from Hecate’s back.

Hecate unfolded her arms and turned to face Ada. There was an inscrutable expression on her face, one which made Ada very nervous indeed. She opened her mouth to speak but Ada cut her off, hoping to alleviate some of the other woman’s discomfort.

“I realize of course it’s too soon to say that and I don’t expect you to say it back or even reciprocate those feelings-”

“Ada-”

“And I know it’s complicated by the fact that I’m technically your employer, but I do hope you know that you never have to-”

She was silenced by the tip of a pale index finger pressed to her lips. There was a bemused smile playing at the corners of Hecate’s mouth, and what could only be described as a twinkle in her eye.

“I love you too, Ada Cackle,” she said. “Very, very much.” 

She moved her finger aside and pressed a firm kiss to Ada’s lips, as if to punctuate her declaration. 

Ada sighed, reaching a hand up to cup the back of Hecate’s neck and deepen the kiss.

 _Very, very much_.

The words played over and over again in her head. Ada didn’t think she’d ever heard a sweeter combination of words, didn’t think it would be possible to formulate a more exquisite sentence. She couldn’t stop herself from smiling, a wide toothy grin which made Hecate smile too. Soon they were both giggling, and were forced to break apart. Ada wrapped her arms around Hecate’s slim waist and pulled her into a hug, tucking her still-smiling face into the crook of her neck. 

Hecate pressed a kiss to her forehead and rested a cheek against her hair. “I don’t think we’re very good at this,” she murmured. 

Ada huffed a laugh. “I won’t argue with you on that one.”

“I suppose we’ll get it right eventually.”

Ada grinned. She liked the word _eventually_. There was a permanence to it, a solidity that implied they would be together for a long, long time. She nuzzled Hecate’s neck, planting a small kiss just above the edge of her collar. 

Hecate ran one hand down her spine, curling around and letting it settle into the curve of Ada’s waist. “So you’re sure Agatha won’t be in attendance at this dinner?” she asked, with only a slight hint of resignation in her voice.

Ada chuckled and pulled back just enough to be able to look her in the eye. “I’m sure. And I’m sure that Mother and Father are going to love you even more, and realize how lucky their daughter is to have you as her partner.”

Hecate sighed softly and nudged Ada’s nose with her own. “I’m not sure about that, but I’ll go all the same. But you have to promise me you won’t leave my side for a second.”

“I promise, my love.”

Judging by the smile on her face, Hecate enjoyed hearing that endearment just as much as Ada enjoyed saying it. 

Oh yes, they were going to get better at this. 

Eventually.


End file.
